The End of Winter -- Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Conference and Revelation

August 14^th, 2808

The first day of the conference had gone very well, and the Behemoth crew was relaxing in the bar. Behemoth was patched in by comm link. Sitting across from them was a cantilian, not as large as Amazona, but still pretty big at about 6’ 6” height and 500 lbs. Curt was fairly average sized for a normal human male, 5’ 10”, and 180 lbs. He had never gotten into the ‘buff’ thing.

The cantilian made the mistake of pulling Misha’s tail. Curt grabbed his wrist with a grip like a steel vice, and said, “You will apologize to the lady, and cease your offensive behavior.”

The cantilian, a tad bit drunk, said, “And if I don’t…?” In less than three seconds, Curt had the cantilian on the ground, alive, but very badly broken. He casually said to the attendant, “Ensign, this gentleman could use a medic. Sooner would probably be better than later. Could you see to it, please?”

“Yes sir!” The ensign scurried off to find medical help.

Curt sat back down to sip his drink, but the others were all staring at him.

“What?” he said.

“Uh, Curt,” Chimera said, “you don’t see anything…odd… in what just happened?”

“Of course not. I defended a lady’s honor. What’s odd about that?”

“Are you kidding?” Amazona said. “You had him decked faster than I could even see, and I’m a pretty damned good battle observer. He’s almost three times your size, and you didn’t hesitate for a second. You never even had any doubt. That’s not normal, sir.”

“You have Ancient DNA in your system…” Chimera said with fascination, and a tinge of awe.

“Well, what the hell. I whacked a cad. So what?”

Amazona said, “Curt, I have to ask this. A month ago, when I questioned your decision to put Misha in the regeneration chamber…you would have killed me if I had tried to stop you, wouldn’t you have?”

“Without a moment’s hesitation,” Curt said calmly.

“Damn.” Amazona went deep into thought.

“Hey, we just had a great day!” Curt said “Let’s celebrate, and not let some asshole ruin it!”

Gradually, the mood lightened, and the crew was happy again.

When the MPs arrived, they noticed two Admirals were in attendance, so simply asked if all was well. Admirals Jackson and Chimera assured them there was no problem, and the issue ended there.

 

August 16^th, 2808

Curt had called a crew meeting for 8AM, a thoroughly unnatural time for him.  But, this was tour day, and he wanted it to go well.

“OK, there are about 200 delegates at this conference. In groups of ten, 15 minutes each, that’s nominally five hours, but we all know it will take longer than that. The primary issue is security, and I want to overkill the issue. Amazona, have you put away or covered up anything that might give away any useful information?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Behemoth: Are you prepared to be chatty and cheerful all day? Most of these folks from the Modern Sector have never dealt with a machine with your level of intelligence and, well, humanity, for lack of a better term. You may end up as the star of the tour for them. You up for that?”

“Of course, sir! I’m always chatty and cheerful!”

“Uh huh. OK, here’s how this will work. Amazona will lead the tours. Her sheer size will deter most mischief. Now, supposedly everyone is screened for weapons, but I have no faith in the system. Chimera, I want you to follow behind. If you even think Amazona might have a problem, intervene at your discretion. I’d rather you not slice anybody’s head off, but if you have to do it for the security of the ship, then do it. I’ll deal with the resulting paperwork. Are you both clear on the plan?”

“Yes sir,” Amazona and Chimera said in unison.

“Great. In the meantime, I will hide in my office until it’s all over. I hate crowds with a passion. Misha, would you like to join me?”

“Sure. We actually have some things we need to talk about.”

“Indeed, we do.”

Curt and Misha snuck out just before the first tour started.

“OK,” Curt said, “what are you not telling me about our mission? 3 Grand Imperial Starships ‘to maintain order and peace in the sector?’ You gave me that Level 20 clearance, so spill it. What’s really going on here? The renegades can cause mischief, but can’t do any real damage to the Modern systems. They just don’t have the firepower, particularly after our recent encounter with them. What’s the real problem?”

Misha looked embarrassed, and said, “I knew we had to get around to this, but I’ve just been putting it off. After The Swarm (Misha shuddered)….”

“Wait a minute,” Curt said. “The Swarm?”

“A tale for another time. Behemoth, please discontinue monitoring and recording for the rest of this conversation, and then resume when this meeting is over.”

“Uh…. Admiral?” Behemoth asked.

“You are right to ask, but yes, do it. And, as a standing order, unless it contradicts an order I have personally given you, do anything Misha requests.”

“Thank you for that. Some 7000 years ago, there was a disaster that fragmented the Old Empire. Literally trillions died. There’s been no real central government among Ancients since then.”

“So, where does the Imperial Service get its resources?”

“The Imperial Service was always one of the most respected, and corruption free, institutions in the old Empire. We made it clear to all the systems that their priority for protection would be based on their level of funding to the Imperial Service. Once they figured out what that meant, with all the pirates and renegades running around, they were falling all over themselves to give us resources. As their Gross Planetary Product went up, they paid even more. The Ancient Imperial Service is now the richest entity in the galaxy and still largely corruption free. You signed on with a good outfit, Curt.”

“Yeah, I’ve figured that out at this point. But back to the immediate question: what’s the real threat we’re fighting?”

“You remember I told you that some Ancients are good, and some are less so? Well, I was being polite. Some Ancients are downright evil bastards…pirates and dictators. And many of them have Behemoth class ships. Obviously, they can’t maintain the quality of training and maintenance that the AIS can, so if one gets too aggressive, it’s been fairly easy to swat them down. But then everything changed.

“About five years ago, we got a distress call from one of our Behemoth class ships, the Hector, which was on routine patrol, saying they were under attack by pirates. The captain sounded ready to panic. When we found the Hector, it was very badly burned and charred. All the crew was dead. It actually had holes punched in it. It had been in perfect operational condition, shields and all other systems working fine, when it left space dock.

“At least some of these pirates have a new weapon. Fortunately, they fight each other as much as they fight us, so the technology may not have spread far, but it’s out there, and we need to find it. Sure, we’ll resolve local squabbles…maintain peace and order…as advertised. The announced mission is true, but incomplete. Our real task is to scope out this new weapon. The AIS command wants to know what we’re facing at this point.

“And, this is classified Level 20, unless we’re approaching an actual encounter, in which case you are authorized to tell the entire crew. Never a dull moment, eh?”

“Well,” Curt said, “we may get beaten up, or we may get killed, but this is definitely something important, not just spanking local kids who get out of line. I am definitely up for this!”

“Curt, one other thing. I’d like to have your DNA tested and analyzed, to find out what’s going on in there. No one but you and Chimera and I will see the results, unless you authorize further distribution.”

”Yeah, you’ve got me curious now too. I have always been a little different from most folks, even growing up. As long as it won’t go beyond you and Chimera without my approval, let’s do it. We can get together right after the tours are over.”

The tours had been going well all day, until tour #9. Amazona had turned to point out some feature of the ship, and a delegate at the head of the group pulled a blaster from inside her blouse, raised it, and started to point it toward Amazona.

Before she could even level and aim the weapon, it was on the ground--along with her hand still gripping it. She screamed, and the rest of the tour group became agitated. Amazona yelled “Silence!” in a voice louder than anyone present had ever heard. Even Chimera was startled. Then Amazona said in a calm, normal tone, “As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, we take security very seriously aboard this ship. If you will give us just a moment, we’ll get this cleaned up, and continue the tour.” She said it like someone had spilled a cup of coffee, and the group immediately calmed down.

Amazona did a rough and thorough search of the would-be assassin, and found a knife, but nothing else. Chimera said to the comm link, “Ensign Philip, join me at the tour group. Immediately, if you please.” Before anyone could blink, Ensign Philip was there, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Have you had full medical training?”

“Yes, ma’am. Captain Keri was very rigorous about all aspects of our training.”

“No surprise there. Very good. Take this woman to MedLab and reattach her hand. Then deliver her and these two weapons to station security. I gave her a sedative, so I expect her to be pretty docile, but if, at any point, you feel the security of the ship is in danger, you are authorized to use any means necessary to protect it. That includes termination of the prisoner if necessary, but I’d prefer to avoid that if possible. She has some rough interrogation to look forward to. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am. Will do.”

“Very well, off you go. Captain Amazona, please continue the tour.”

The tour group continued, a little nervous, but oddly, feeling a little safer too.

Finally, the last group of attendees left, and Amazona closed and locked the hatch. Curt breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I heard you had some excitement today.”

“Yeah” Amazona said, “A woman tried to pull a blaster on me, and Chimera sliced her hand off. You didn’t need to do that, you know. I could have disarmed her myself.”

“Probably so,” Chimera said, “but you heard Curt’s instructions. If I even thought there might be a problem, I should intervene, so I did. But what you did…you guys should have seen it! The delegates were getting agitated, and with one word--admittedly louder than any voice I’ve ever heard before--Amazona had them calmed down. Then, like flipping a switch, she became the consummate diplomat, and made everyone instantly at ease. I could never have done that. It was awesome to watch!”

“Damn” Curt said “That reminds me. I’m going to need a new Security Officer!”

“Actually, Curt” Amazona said “I think I’ve worked that for you. There’s this guy on the Andromeda--second in command of Akido’s security staff--who I’ve known for centuries. He’s really good. I asked him to ask the Grand Admiral for a transfer. All of this is subject to your approval, of course.”

“Hell,” Curt said. “If he’s good enough for Akido and good enough for you, who am I to argue? Let me know when the decision is made. I assume he’s a cantilian?”

“Uh, that’s in the regs, Curt. All Imperial starships must have cantilian security staff, except under desperate emergency circumstances.”

“Well I’ll be damned. For once, I actually agree with a regulation! See if you can expedite this transfer. I want to get him integrated as soon as possible. And now--Misha, Chimera--we have some personal business in MedLab. Let’s go.”

Once inside MedLab, Curt closed the door. “Chimera, after my little squabble with that cantilian, you suggested I might have Ancient DNA in my system.”

“That’s not what I said. I made the simple statement that you have it, and you do.”

“OK, well, we’re here to find out what’s what. Remember the rules: no distribution of this information beyond the three of us without my approval. How will this work?”

Chimera said, “We’ll get some DNA from a cheek swab, and put it in the analyzer. It should have a full analysis in just a minute or so.”

“OK…do it.”

Chimera took the sample, and put it in the analyzer.

“Guys, this makes me nervous. What if you find out I’m weird somehow?”

“We already know you’re weird,” Chimera said while watching the analyzer. “We’re just trying to characterize the weirdness.”

“Doc, you really need to work on your bedside manner…” Curt said with some exasperation.

The analyzer sounded completion, and Chimera went to look at the results. “This is absolutely amazing. Misha, come look at this. Look here…and here…and this one over here.”

Misha said “This can’t be right. Is your machine calibrated correctly? This is just too weird.”

“Would someone mind telling the experimental subject what the hell you guys are talking about?” Curt yelled.

“Sorry, Curt.” Misha said “In the entire 7000 years since The Swarm, we’ve encountered a grand total of twelve ancient/modern hybrids. Throughout the galaxy, only twelve, in 7000 years. You make the 13^th.”

“That figures,” Curt mumbled.

Misha said “That alone makes you extraordinarily rare, but your composition is unique. Of the twelve found so far, seven have involved humans, and in every case, it was a human/cantilian hybrid. Outwardly human in appearance, but bigger, stronger, more endurance, that kind of thing. There were so few of them, spread out in both time and location, that no humans ever recorded a pattern.

“But you…you’re a double hybrid. Your human DNA, from your mother, is perfectly normal. Somewhat above average intelligence, no genetic defects. But your Ancient half is itself hybrid, half-cantilian, and half…something we created (Misha shuddered again).”

Curt said sympathetically “I seem to be bringing up bad memories for you today.”

“Yes, but I’ll get over it,” Misha said. “It’s part of our heritage, and you’re so high up in the structure now, you need to know what’s shaped our history. We were having a very hard time finding good leaders and managers after The Swarm. Chimerans are the worst, but no race has an abundance of them.”

“We have the same problem finding good leaders and managers on the Modern side too. Humans are actually better than most, but we still suck. We put people in positions of power and authority because they are the best available, not because they’re necessarily any damned good at it.”

“Our problem exactly,” Misha said. “So, we decided to see if we could identify the gene combination for leadership and management, and breed it into people. There were many variants, and most slightly helped, but none very much. Except for one, the strongest, which looked very promising. The test subjects were witty, entertaining, fun to be around, and very persuasive. Almost supernaturally persuasive. Excellent leaders and managers. We thought we had it made, until the side effects started. At about age twenty-five they started to get erratic. They started doing destructive, evil things, while still being able to persuade people to help them. In short, they all went stark, raving mad, with their abilities intact, and were wreaking havoc. We had to put them all down. Almost 1000 were created, before the problem became obvious.”

“So, what does that have to do with me?” Curt asked, more than a little nervous.

“The other half of your Ancient DNA--the non-cantilian half--is the LM gene set. And not one of the wimpy versions either--the strongest, most dangerous version. Yet here you are, at double the age of the onset of problems, without the slightest hint of insanity. You’re gentle, you’re kind, and you’ve dedicated your life to helping people. Maybe it’s something in your human DNA, or maybe it’s the innate calm and stability of cantilians, but you’ve done it. You’ve tamed the beasts in the LM gene set. And yet, you retain your spooky LM powers. It was the cantilian side that gave away your ancient DNA during the brief bar fight, but the signs of LM were there all along. I just didn’t think to look for them.

“Think about it!” Misha said. “A month ago, you didn’t exist as far as the AIS knew, and now, you’re a Vice-Admiral in the most powerful fleet in the galaxy. In a month! An hour after your first encounter with Ancients of multiple species you’ve never seen before, and who had never seen a human close up, you were unambiguously in command. And that dance you did with Quinn. You spun a court-martial into a promotion in ten minutes. That’s just not natural. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in real life.”

“Well, I had some help from Akido on that one…” Curt said.

“Yes, but you didn’t know that was going to happen! To use one of your crude phrases, you were handed a turd, and turned it into a diamond. There are numerous other examples, but I think you get my point.”

“Yeah, it even worked on me,” Chimera added. “And chimerans are immune to the kind of mind tricks that Misha and her Guardian buddies pull.”

“Hmmm….” Curt said. “I will need to ponder this. I don’t know where I want this information going, if anywhere. I’ve never lied to any of you, and never will. I am committed to the lives and safety of this crew, and anyone else I’m responsible for. I am committed to doing good things for people. I guess what I’m asking is that you don’t be scared of me. I’m the same person I was before any of us knew about this.”

“We’re not scared, Curt,” Chimera said. “Just a little in awe, I guess. What the entire scientific community of the Empire failed to do--tame the monster--happens in you naturally through a weird combination of mating and genetics.”

“We’re not scared of you, Curt,” Misha said. “We’re proud of you! And honored to be on your team!”

Chimera nodded in vigorous agreement and Curt blushed.

“Then we can all get back to work, just like it was?” Curt asked.

“Damned right we can,” Chimera said. “And there’s a lot to do, too. You too, Misha. Out! Curt will come out when he’s ready.”

Curt sat and just thought for a few minutes…but just a few, and then he jumped back in the saddle.

 

The End of Winter Chapter 8

Chapter 8: On the Brink of Disaster

August 11^th, 2808

The conference was being held at the Earth Space Force battlestation Horatio, and Curt decided to get there a few days early. The Horatio was brand new, state of the art, with 50 laser cannon towers, and a number of smaller weapons.

About half a light year out, Behemoth called in, “Horatio approach control, this is the Ancient Starship Behemoth on final approach. Request clearance for docking.”

“Roger, Behemoth, you are cleared to dock at docking bay #1. Seems like you guys are the main event for this thing. Prepare to lower your shields.”

Amazona laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?” Behemoth asked.

“Lower our shields. That’s a good joke!”

“Uh, Amazona, they weren’t kidding, it’s standard procedure for this station. All approaching ships must lower their shields on final approach.”

“Well, they can kiss my scaly ass! Those shields are not coming down until we dock.”

“Curt,” Behemoth said. “We need an issue resolution here.”

“What’s the problem?”

“The station wants us to lower our shields and Amazona refuses to do it. Frankly, I agree with her…but what do we do?”

“Hmmm, I agree too. This has ceased to be an operational problem, and is now a diplomatic problem…which means it’s my problem.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I haven’t the foggiest notion. But, reopen the voice line, and we’ll find out!”

You could see the controller waiting patiently on the view screen. Behemoth reopened the voice channel.

“Sailor, this is Commander Curt Jackson of the Earth Space Force. I also hold a dual commission as Vice-Admiral in the Ancient Imperial Service. Our procedures require that shields remain up until we dock. We will be unable to comply with your request to lower our shields at this time.”

“Uhhh, roger that Commander. Stand by one.”

Both the video and audio feeds were cut off. When they came back on, the controller had been replaced with the craggy visage of Admiral Quinn, commanding officer for the Horatio.

“Alright, Jackson, what are you up to this time?”

Behemoth: THIS time?

Misha: It seems we’re not the only ones he pushes to the limits.

“Uh, nothing sir. I assume you heard the conversation I had with the controller about my new status. Ancient Imperial Service procedures require shields to remain up on all Imperial ships until docking is complete.”

“Dammit, Commander Jackson, lower those shields now!”

“No disrespect intended, Admiral, but I will be unable to comply with that request. If you prefer, we will simply leave peacefully. Of course, that would make the conference rather boring.”

You could almost see the steam coming out of the Admiral’s ears, but he kept his cool. He turned to the controller and said, “Sailor, the Behemoth is authorized to dock with shields up, on my personal authority as commanding officer of this station. And you, Commander Jackson, will report to my office immediately after docking.”

“Yes sir!” Curt said.

The connection was cut, and Behemoth continued with the final approach and docking. Curt exhaled loudly, then turned to his crew and said, “Damn. I’m going to catch a full ration of shit for this.”

“Frankly,” Misha said, “I don’t see how you pulled it off. You effectively gave a senior officer an order. How do you get away with this stuff?”

“Well, I didn’t give him an order, exactly. I just pointed out his limited options. Misha, I want you with me at that meeting. For moral support, if nothing else. We’ll introduce you as my ‘Chief Advisor’.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Curt! I’m right there with you!”

Behemoth docked without further incident, and there was a sigh of relief from both sides that was almost palpable when Behemoth lowered his shields.

Misha took up her usual position around Curt’s neck, and they proceeded inside, where they were met by two armed guards. Heavily armed. One of the guards said, “Sorry, sir. No pets allowed on this station.”

Curt felt an odd tingle in his head, and then the other guard said, “Oh, what’s the harm? It’s just a cat.”

The first guard said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Please follow us to the Admiral’s office, sir.”

As they were walking down the hall, Curt said quietly to Misha, “I always suspected you could do that. I was just wondering when I’d see it.” Misha just smiled.

They got to the Admiral’s office, and his first comment was, “What’s that damned cat doing in here?”

“Admiral, this is no mere cat. This is Misha, an Ancient of the Council of Guardians, and my Chief Advisor. I thought she might be useful in facilitating our discussion.”

“Pleased to meet you, Admiral,” Misha said, and stuck out her paw to shake hands. The confused Admiral Quinn took her paw, and they shook hands.

“So, what’s this ‘dual commission’ business? Who do you work for, me, or them? I should have you court-martialed for this whole business!”

“Well, you could do that sir, but then I would have undivided loyalty to the Ancient Imperial Service. Is that what you want?”

More steam. “Well, probably not, but I need to think about it. And you’ll need to stay here on the station while I do. You will both be confined to quarters.”

“Uh, Admiral,” Misha said, “that’s a really bad idea. I suggest you let us return to Behemoth.”

“So, I’m supposed to take orders from a cat now? Why is it a bad idea?”

“Oh, you’ll find out in about ten seconds.”

It turned out it was just a few seconds later when alarms all over the station went off, and the crew went to battle stations. On the view screen an armada of Ancient ships suddenly appeared. The centerpiece was at least half a mile in diameter, and was flanked on all four sides by Behemoth class ships.

“What the hell is that? And where did they come from?” Admiral Quinn yelled.

“No clue on either count yet, sir,” Commander Halsey said. “They just popped up out of nowhere. Never showed up on our long range scanners at all.”

“That,” Misha said, “is the flagship of the Ancient Imperial Fleet, with a full battle complement of support vessels.”

“Admiral Quinn, the commanding officer of the flagship would like to speak to you. What should I do?”

“Patch him in here.”

On the screen was the face of someone from an Ancient species Curt hadn’t seen yet. Mostly human in appearance but…different, somehow.

“Greetings Admiral Quinn. I am Grand Admiral Akido, commanding officer for the Ancient Imperial Fleet. The large craft you see on your screen is the Superstar Battleship Andromeda, flagship of the fleet. I understand you’ve been in discussions with my Vice-Admiral, and with our Ambassador to Earth and the surrounding systems. This is good. We should get to know each other better. But, I need to conference with them now, and they need to be on their own ship to do it. So, you will need to continue your conversation at a later time.”

“Greetings to you as well, Grand Admiral. I’m afraid you will need to delay your conference with these two for a bit. We have some unfinished business here on the station to conclude.”

Impasse!

“Bad idea, Admiral,” Misha said quietly

“Surely, Admiral Quinn, you aren’t holding my officer and Ambassador against their wills, are you?”

“Grand Admiral, please give me a few minutes to discuss the situation.”

“I will be happy to wait ten minutes for you, Admiral Quinn.”

Quinn signaled the communications officer to cut off the voice channel. He turned to Curt and said, “That sounded like a threat to me.”

“It was,” Misha responded. “He was just being polite. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Akido’s nickname is ‘The Butcher’. You really don’t want to piss him off. He could destroy this entire station with barely a blip on his power meter. And he’ll do it, if he thinks the honor of the Imperial Fleet is at stake.”

“Well, we’ll see about that. Commander Halsey, set shields to maximum and target all the main guns on one of the secondary ships, but do not fire except on my personal command.”

Curt felt that weird tingle in his head again, only much stronger this time.

“Belay that order and freeze, Commander,” Misha said in a voice impossibly loud for a body that small. And sure enough, Commander Halsey froze dead in his tracks, and did not move a muscle.

“What the hell is going on here?” Quinn screamed.

“Admiral, what you are planning is a really, really bad idea,” Misha said. “You will not like the consequences of this course of action. I strongly recommend you reconsider. Now, I’m going to release your Commander. Do you want me to release him with no memory of the order, so you can have him follow a different course without loss of face, or do you want him to continue with your original order?”

“I gave an order, and I want it carried out, dammit!” Quinn said.

“Very well, Admiral. You are not going to like this, but it’s your call. (There’s that tingle again). Commander Halsey, when you next hear the word ‘go’ you will execute your last order, with no memory of this delay. Go.”

Commander Halsey went back in motion as if nothing had happened. He ordered his gunner to target the closest Behemoth class ship. Almost instantly, a violent shudder struck the entire station.

“What in God’s name is going on here?” Quinn shouted.

“Sir, this is unbelievable, but they’re slicing the laser towers off of the station!”

The shuddering stopped suddenly.

“How many did they hit?” Quinn asked softly.

“Every bloody one, sir. All 50 are now adrift in space. The station is effectively defenseless.”

Quinn looked with fury at Misha, and said, “What have you done?”

Misha just shrugged and said, “I told you it was a bad idea. I told you that you wouldn’t like the results. But would you listen to some dumb cat? No, you had to do it your way. And this is the result.”

Quinn suddenly turned white as a sheet, and asked the Commander, “How many casualties?”

“This system must be messed up, sir. It’s reporting no casualties at all. None.”

“That would be right,” Misha said. “Akido is called The Butcher because he cuts up ships, not people. He scanned the entire station ahead of time, and located sever points that could be sealed on both sides, with no loss of air or life. If anyone had been killed, some gunner would currently be getting a new asshole.”

Quinn looked at Curt and said, “Jackson, you’ve given me headaches for over twenty-five years, but this one is off the charts. Now what?”

“Admiral Quinn,” the comm officer called out, “Grand Admiral Akido would like a word with you.”

“Well, patch him in here.”

“Admiral Quinn” Akido said “Apparently you have a malfunction in your targeting system. It apparently mistakenly identified one of my ships as an enemy vessel. I regret that this required me to disable your weapons systems. We will be happy to assist with repairs, once Ambassador Misha assures me your targeting system malfunction has been corrected. If you could give me a status update in ten minutes, I would very much appreciate it.” The screen went dead.

“Admiral, I think there’s a way we can all come out of this as winners,” Curt said quickly. “If you appoint me as Vice-Admiral in charge of Ancient Relations for the Earth Space Force, I’ll have equal rank in both fleets, and hence, equal loyalty. Akido would take this as an enormous gesture of good faith, yes?” He looked over at Misha, and she vigorously nodded in the affirmative. “We write it up as a targeting system malfunction, the Ancients fix the station good as new or better, and everybody wins.”

“You know, Jackson,” Quinn replied “you’ve been proposed for Admiral more than half a dozen times. Twice by me, I might add, despite the headaches you give me. You get turned down every time because you’re constantly doing unconventional things. You have no respect for tradition, no respect for the way things have been done before. You always make it work somehow, but you make people nervous. But this is different, a unique situation. A field promotion rather than a formal review. Unconventional, as usual, but it’s legal, and it should work.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“Yes, dammit, I’ll do it! Congratulations on your promotion, Admiral Jackson.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Communications, get Akido back on the line.”

“Hello again, Admiral Quinn. Is your targeting system corrected?”

“Yes, Grand Admiral, but we’ll get to that in a moment. The discussions I mentioned earlier that I needed to have with your personnel have been completed. I have promoted Commander Jackson to Vice-Admiral in the Earth Space Force in charge of Ancient Relations, effective immediately. I believe this will facilitate working together to our mutual benefit.”

Akido smiled, and visibly relaxed. “A wise choice, Admiral. Admiral Jackson is a truly unique officer, with exceptional talents. I expect he will serve us both well. Ambassador Misha, has the targeting system error been corrected?”

“It is now in perfect working order, Grand Admiral.”

“Very well then, we’ll proceed with the repairs. Admiral Jackson.”

“Sir!”

“You will personally oversee this repair effort. I want it done quickly and correctly. My entire ship’s complement of technicians will be at your disposal for this task. How long will it take?”

“How many chimeran technicians do you have available, sir?”

“The exact number is classified. A lot of them.”

“Well, I’ll need to confer with my engineer, but I would guess…a day, maybe two at the most? We’ll have it looking like new in time for the conference, and I don’t see any need to discuss this targeting system malfunction with the attendees.”

“Very good, Admiral Jackson. Please contact both Admiral Quinn and me when you have a better estimate. Can we have that estimate within the hour?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem, sir.”

“Very good. Admiral Quinn, Admiral Jackson, Ambassador Misha, I wish you all well. We may drop in on the conference, just to say hello. Until then, good sailing!”

The comm link went dead, and at the same time, the Ancient ships vanished from the view screen. They didn’t move away. They were just gone.

“Well, that was entertaining.” Curt said “Admiral Quinn, I have a lot of work to do to get this station back in top condition before the conference. If we may be excused…?”

“Yes, get back to your ship, and get to work. One thing I can say about you, Jackson, is that people never get bored when you’re around! Off you go!”

As they were walking down the hall, without escort at this point, Misha asked, “How in the world do you come up with these crazy schemes, and then make them work? It’s not natural!”

“I don’t know how to describe it, really,” Curt said.  “I build a model in my head of the interpersonal dynamics, feed in possible solutions, and usually come up with a workable result. The more impossible the situation looks, the weirder the answer looks--at least at first. But, once it works, people get used to it. And what about you, Ambassador?”

“You heard about it when I did, kid, just now. I guess I have a new job, although nobody told me in advance.”

“We did well today, Misha.”

“Indeed we did.” Misha curled firmly around his neck, and purred all the way back to Behemoth.

“Behemoth, are you online?”

“Yes sir!”

“Please have Chimera meet Misha and me in my office in five minutes.”

“Will do.”

When they returned to Curt’s office, Chimera was already there.

“I assume you saw Akido’s little show?”

“Indeed I did,” Chimera said. “Quite entertaining.”

“Yeah, well, we now get to fix it. And ‘we’ mostly means you. But it’s all real technical work! No diplomacy! Of course, you will need to manage the repair crew. Akido offered his entire complement of chimeran technicians to be at our disposal. How many does he have?”

Chimera shuffled around and said, “Uh, sir, that’s classified Level 20, and you’re only cleared to level 15.”

Misha chimed in and said, “I hereby grant Admiral Jackson a Level 20 clearance, based on my personal authority as the senior member of the Council of Guardians.”

Curt, stunned, looked at Chimera and asked, “Can she really do that?”

“Yup. Perfectly legal. OK, now that that’s not a problem, Akido typically has 50-55 Chimeran technicians on the Andromeda. The other ships will all have at least one, sometimes two.”

Curt was shocked. “That’s a lot. Can we generate enough power to support them all?”

“With that new engine and the other two in like-new condition, piece of cake.”

“OK,” Curt said, “here’s the challenge. We need to get all of those towers fixed, and fixed fast. How long would that take using 50 technicians?”

“Well, if they’re not all kids, twelve hours, maybe eighteen hours max.”

“Great. We’ll tell them twenty-four hours. Now, if you concentrate every resource you usefully can on just four of them, how quickly could you get them up and running?”

“Just four? With fifty techs? Twenty minutes, half an hour max.”

“Excellent. We’ll tell them an hour. Misha, can you work with Chimera to get the techs assembled in one place? None of the rest of us know how to contact Akido. Oh, and Chimera.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to be introduced as Admiral, or as Commander?”

“Commander, please, Curt. Having stray Admirals floating around makes even chimerans nervous, which makes us inefficient.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do. OK, off you both go. Actually, Misha, before you get the techs, I need you to work with Behemoth and set me up a split screen with Akido and Quinn. How long will that take?”

Behemoth chimed in, “If we can connect with Akido quickly, not more than a minute or two, sir.”

“Excellent. Misha, Chimera, off you go!”

In a little over a minute, Behemoth had the split screen going.

Quinn piped in, “It’s been less than fifteen minutes. You have the estimate already?”

“Yes sir,” Curt replied. “We can have the entire station fixed within 24 hours. Admiral Quinn, if you can identify four towers you consider particularly critical, we can have those up and running within an hour. Just let my engineer Commander Chimera know which ones you want done first.”

“Bullshit,” Quinn said. “Nobody can work that fast. You’re making this up.”

“No sir, I’m not. No human can work that fast. But the chimerans who will be fixing you up operate at 0.9c, and channel 0.5TW of power. Each.”

“Bullshit.”

 

"Fact. Clocked, measured and documented. Nobody really knows how it works. You will find these ancients quite amazing, Admiral. They are far, far more advanced than any species in our part of the galaxy. Now, if you will just get your top priority towers identified to my engineer, we’ll get this show on the road.”

“OK. I still don’t believe it, but if this works, you and I will need to have a couple of drinks together, privately, to discuss your recent exploits.”

“It will be an honor, Admiral, but first I have to get this work done!”

“You have done well, son” Akido piped in.

“Still more to do, Grand Admiral. If you will both excuse me…?”

“Right, off you go” Quinn said.

 Well, hell, maybe this might work after all, Curt thought.

The repairs, of course, were all completed well ahead of the committed schedules.

Run Like the Wind...

The next week or so is going to be hectic, and I'll probably be off the air most of that time.

I'm leaving my home at Lake Tahoe to go live in Hawaii for the winter...

;-)

TCS

The End of Winter -- Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Crew Rotation

August 3^rd, 2808

Chimera and Misha met in Curt’s office, at his request.

“Behemoth, please turn off your listening and recording of this meeting. Return to normal recording after this meeting ends. Well, Chimera, this is one of those administrative meetings I promised you you wouldn’t have to attend!”

“Grrrr…”

“Actually, this is important. Things are changing fast, and I want to stay ahead of the curve. I want to do something…unconventional.”

“You?” Misha said, “Something unconventional? I’m shocked!”

“Oh, shut up and listen. This is actually a good idea. I want to appoint Behemoth Captain of this vessel.”

“Behemoth? He’s not even a person!”

“Says who? He makes good decisions, and he has more combined space experience than a big fraction of the fleet Captains combined. You’ve talked to him. Is he a real person? Of course he is! And I’d rather have him as my commander than half the other officers I’ve met. Not that I ever said that…”

Misha thought for a bit, and then looked at Chimera and said, “He’s right, you know. This could actually work. The Council has become very fond of Curt recently. If you and I work our combined contacts…we can make this happen.”

“Fine by me,” Chimera said. “I like most machines better than I like most people anyhow!”

“Excellent! Misha, if you could take point on this, that would be great. You’re a bit more…diplomatic…than Chimera. OK, next issue. I have two more captain positions to fill. Misha, are you interested?”

“Are you nuts?” Misha replied sharply “I still don’t know how you suckered Chimera into the Admiral job, but there’s no way you’re getting me into a combat command position again! I’ve done my time! Forget it!”

“OK, OK, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. How about Amazona? Smart, dedicated, and she would never get any lip from a crewman.”

“A bit young, don’t you think?” Misha said.

“Well, I guess I have a different perspective, but I don’t see 1500 years old as ‘young’.”

Chimera looked at Misha and said, “She would be good, you know. Like Curt said, way better than half the silly bastards we have in command now (not that I ever said that). She’s smart, she works like a demon, and she’s completely unflappable. I think it’s a good idea.”

“Works for me,” Misha said.

“OK, one more to go. Cygnus is clearly too young, even by my standards, although I may promote him to Commander. Any ideas?”

“Keri?” Misha asked.

“Nah,” Chimera said. “He’d be great, but he’s too good at what he’s doing now. Do you know how hard it is to find competent chimeran officers? Leave him where he is. He loves his job, anyhow.”

“Other thoughts?”

“Let us ponder for a bit,” Misha said.

“OK, you’ve got a day, but that’s it. All this is going to be done before that damned conference.”

“I have a couple of additional items, sir. Oooops…I guess I don’t need to call you that anymore.”

Curt Smiled “I won’t tell if you don’t!”

“You’ve promised I won’t have any admin work to do, and I have complete trust in your honesty and sincerity, but I don’t believe you. I’m going to get sucked into this crap whether I like it or not (Misha giggled). I’d like to bring Ensign Philip on board as an apprentice.”

“The kid you sliced up?”

“Yeah, he’s turned out to be really good. I want to leave Behemoth in good technical hands.”

“You’ll get no argument from me about adding good technical staff, but you’ll need to tell Keri.”

“He’ll get over it.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, one minor thing. I’m officially promoting you to Vice-Admiral.”

“What?”

“I figured it would be easier for me to stick you with all the admin work and meetings that way. Besides, you deserve it. You’re one of the finest officers in the fleet, way better than most Admirals I know (not that I ever said that). Congratulations!”

“Thank you, ma’am…I guess.”

“Not in private, Admiral. None of this ma’am crap.  I want to be a real person whenever possible.”

“You got it, Chimera!”

 

August 5^th, 2808

Completion day!

“Well, Captain Keri, the performance of your crew has been nothing short of stellar,” Curt remarked.  “Behemoth is now fully operational, and the fastest Grand Imperial in the fleet!”

“Yeah, and you swiped my best cadet to boot!”

“Oh, you’ll get over it. Speaking of personnel issues, I need a third Captain for the new squadron that’s getting put together. Now, you can call me a racist if you want, but I’d like a chimeran if possible. We considered asking you, actually…”

“What?”

“But, Chimera said you were too good where you are, and that you loved your job.”

“Well, Admirals, I’m honored by the consideration, but Chimera’s right. I do love my job. I’m the senior technical officer for the entire Imperial Service. How much better can it get than that?”

Chimera said to Curt, “You know, this bastard is making me jealous.”

“Yeah, me too!” Curt said.

“OK, back to business. Captain suggestions?”

“You know,” Keri said, “there is this guy who’s a senior Commander a couple of sectors over. A bit young…less than 1000 years…”

“Watch it! Remember, I’m only 58!”

“Sorry, sir! Anyway, he’s really good. His actual name is Nimitz, but they call him Moose, because he’s abnormally large for a chimeran…about 6 feet tall and 250 lbs.”

“Two hundred and fifty pounds? Jesus! You little guys are intimidating enough as it is!”

“Yeah, Moose doesn’t get a lot of grief in bar fights. Let me see if he’s available.”

“Chimera?”

“I know this guy, Curt, even though it’s been a while. First Class. You could do far worse.”

“Alright, then. Captain Keri, I will look forward to the results of your inquiry, and thank you again for your outstanding service!”

“You are more than welcome sir. It’s actually been fun working with the two of you…even if you did swipe my best cadet.”

“Oh, quit whining,” Chimera said. “You’ll get over it!”

 

August 6^th , 2808

“Misha, a word please?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Who’s actually running this conference that’s coming up?”

“Well, it’s a little vague. There was a huge clamor of interest, and the Council agreed to the conference, but it’s a little vague as to who’s running it.”

“Great. That means no one is running it…and that means we have to run it…and that means…”

“Oh no, you don’t! We are not going there!”

“Misha, I’ve done my homework here. You are hugely respected throughout the Ancient world. More than I had even suspected, actually. Never mind your sheer technical competence, if you run this, it will work. And we need it to work. The entire political structure of the galaxy is being re-ordered, and we are at the center of it. And you are the best one possible to make this happen.”

“Grrrrrr…”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“Yes, I’ll do it, you slimy bastard! I’m starting to understand how you suckered Chimera into the Admiral job…”

Curt wandered over to the security station, and said, “Amazona, I trust you are well!”

“Well indeed, sir!”

“What’s your power level?”

“Well, with all the excess power from the Reagan, I’m up to 100%.”

“Excellent! Amazona, I have some new challenges for you.”

“Bring ‘em on, sir!”

“You know that a new Guardian/AIS squadron is being created?”

“I’d heard rumors, yes sir.”

“Well, it’s real. I’m looking for a Captain I can trust for one of the vessels. Interested?”

A very short pause, then, “Absolutely!”

“Excellent! I know you’re a little young for this by Ancient standards, but I’m only 58, so what the hell. You’ll be getting a brand new ship, the Resolution, fresh off the line. Also…”

“Sir?”

“I need you to help Misha with a project. We have this conference coming up, and if we don’t run it, it’s just going to be a mess. Intellectually, Misha could eat any of the attendees for lunch, but her physical stature is an issue. But, if the two of you worked together, the striking physical contrast would be enough to get everyone’s attention. Plus, these events can get a little rough sometimes. With you as Misha’s escort…well, let’s just say I’ll be able to sleep well at night. So, can I get you to do this, Captain?”

“Absolutely, sir! Working with Captain Misha is always an honor.”

“Excellent! I’ll leave it to the two of you to work out the details.”

 

August 7^th, 2808

“Curt?”

“Yes, Misha, good morning!”

“Damn, you are always so cheerful!”

“Only when things are going well. When people are dying, I tend to get a little testy.”

“Well, OK, I get that, but I have good news! Commander Nimitz, Moose, has accepted your offer as the third Captain in the squadron!”

“Well, damn, that is good news! OK, get his furry butt out here straight away. I want us as integrated as possible before that damned conference.”

“You got it!”

It’s convenient to be able to talk to someone wherever you are, so Curt just said to the air, “Behemoth, a word please.”

“Of course, sir! What can I do for you?”

“I have an unconventional request.”

“You sir? Unconventional? I’m shocked!”

“Dammit, Misha told me the same thing just yesterday! Am I really that weird?”

“Yes sir, but I find it quite refreshing. And, after what we’ve been through together, I doubt you can surprise me much.”

“Well, we’ll see. I want to get you officially commissioned as Captain of this ship.”

“Uh…. sir?”

“Captain…in charge…you know what that means, right?”

“Well, of course, sir, but…I’m not even a corporeal being! I’m just a collection of circuits and databanks.”

“So, that makes you inferior to me how? You make good decisions. Hell, you instructed me when I first landed here.”

You could almost imagine Behemoth blushing. “I apologize for that, sir, but there just wasn’t time. I just did what had to be done.”

“Exactly. So, what do you think a Captain’s job is…making decisions, and doing what needs to be done!”

“Well, yes, sir. I guess that’s true.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“Not up to me, sir. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

“I already have Guardian Council approval.”

“What?”

“Combined, Misha and Chimera have remarkable connections. It’s a done deal, but will you do it?”

“Uh, this will be an amazing honor! Yes sir, I’ll do it!”

“Excellent! So, my command staff for the squadron is now complete.”

“If I may ask, who else do you have?”

“Amazona has agreed to command one of the ships.”

“Excellent choice! And the other?”

“There’s this Senior Commander from a nearby squadron called Moose. Real name is Nimitz. Chimeran. He comes well recommended.”

“Hmmm…I don’t really have good data, but the fragments I have about him are all positive.”

“Well, I wanted a chimeran. And, frankly, I wanted a machine, too. Call me a racist if you want to, but this is the right answer.”

“That thought would never occur to me, sir.”

“Then let’s go have fun together, shall we?”

 

August 8^th, 2808

Moose arrived without any particular fanfare. Admiral Chimera met him at the airlock.

“Well, Captain Nimitz! Welcome aboard. We don’t have a lot of time, but Admiral Jackson wanted to get us together as soon as we could. You’ve heard you’re getting the Constellation, yes? New Grand Imperial Class starship, straight off the assembly line?”

“Uh, no ma’am, I hadn’t heard that…damn!”

“Yeah, well, you’ll need to get used to that. Admiral Jackson has a fundamental disrespect for what’s been done before. He makes weird shit happen. He really couldn’t care less about what’s happened in the past. And…(Chimera looked around the hall)…in private, we don’t do any of the sir/ma’am/Captain/Admiral stuff. It’s just smart folks, getting things done. You got it?”

“Yes, Chimera!”

“You learn quickly, kid. That’s good! And, Admiral Jackson is really good with the time issue, probably the best you’ve ever met among Normals. We actually had a meeting once where I sliced off one of his fingers.”

“Bullshit!”

“Fact. Ask him yourself. He finds it more amusing than annoying. Now, we’re going to introduce you to Captain Amazona, the new Captain for the Resolution. Some people find her a bit intimidating.”

Moose looked over himself, and at 6’ tall and 250 lbs, he said, “Admiral, I don’t intimidate easily.”

“Well,” Chimera said, “You haven’t met Amazona!”

“I look forward to it!”

Moose and Amazona met in the break room. Moose was clearly impressed.

“Finally,” Moose said, “someone bigger than I am!”

“And, someone who isn’t intimidated by my size!” Amazona said.

“Why should I be intimidated?” Moose said. “I could cut every one of your limbs off in less than three seconds.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Amazona said. “Well, this is great…the more power you can get in a fight, the better. Welcome aboard, Captain!”

“Thank you, ma’am!”

Curt was just beaming. These guys were clearly going to get along famously.

“Oh, and Moose…” Amazona said.

“Yes?”

“I may not be quite as slow as you seem to think I am!”

“Good to know. But, if we’re fighting together, that really isn’t a problem, is it?”

Moose and Amazona went off together to talk shop.